"Net rate" is the phrase at the heart of every Thailand DMC relationship — and the one most worth understanding. Get it right and your margin is protected on every booking. Here is the plain-English version for travel agents.
What a net rate is
A net rate is the confidential, trade-only price your Thailand DMC charges your agency for a hotel room, transfer, guide or tour. It is not the rack rate a consumer sees. You add your own mark-up and sell to your client at whatever your market supports — the difference is your margin, set by you.
Why net rates beat commission
- You control the price. Mark up high-touch trips more; stay lean on competitive ones.
- It stays confidential. Your client never sees the underlying cost.
- Everything bundles. One net price per file covers hotels, transfers, guiding and excursions, quoted in your currency.
How a Thailand DMC builds a net rate
Volume across the season lets a Thailand DMC contract hotels and services below public pricing. Those savings pass to you as net rates, with allotments and stop-sale alerts so availability is real, not theoretical.
Settlement made simple
A good Thailand DMC issues quotations in your working currency, agrees credit terms up front, and sends one consolidated invoice per file — so your back office reconciles in minutes.
The bottom line
Net rates plus a Thailand DMC's on-the-ground accountability mean you keep the client and the margin while the operator carries the delivery risk. Request net rates from Explera and set your own price.
Frequently asked questions
How do I price a trip off a net rate without losing a competitive bid?
You set the mark-up file by file, which is the whole point of buying net. Load a high-touch, low-competition itinerary where the client is buying reassurance, and stay lean where you are bidding against three other agencies for the same movement. The client never sees the underlying cost, so your pricing decision stays yours and your margin stays protected.
Should I ask a Thailand DMC for net rates or for commission?
Ask for net. Commission fixes your earnings at somebody else's price, while a net rate hands you control of the sell price, keeps the underlying cost confidential from your client, and bundles hotels, transfers, guiding and excursions into one price per file in your currency. That single figure is also far easier to quote and to reconcile than several commissionable components.
How do I know the availability behind a net rate is real?
Ask what sits behind it. A net rate built on contracted volume comes with allotments and stop-sale alerts, so what you are quoting is held rather than theoretical. Confirm the release dates alongside the rate, and expect to be told when a property goes on stop rather than discovering it when you try to confirm your client's booking.
What should a net-rate quotation contain so my back office can reconcile it?
Your working currency, credit terms agreed up front, and one consolidated invoice per file covering every service on the movement. That combination is what lets a back office reconcile in minutes instead of matching separate supplier documents against a single booking. Agree the terms at account opening rather than mid-file, and send the trade desk a live brief to see the format.
